Yesterday (Saturday) commenced our first free weekend (freekend?) After I RAN! (this being significant because I haven't run for a month because of some stupid pinched nerve in my foot) all the way from Chinatown to the Opera House and beyond, a small group of us headed over to Paddington's, an open-air artsy market a short bus ride away. There, people were selling handcrafted jewelry, scarves, dresses, shirts, shoes, bags, artwork, and FOOD. Most all of it was mega expensive, even by Australian standards, but I did manage to pick up a few cool souvenirs while I was there :)
Then, we bussed over to The Rocks to visit another open air market, which had a lot of similar merchandise but there was a lot more to choose from. The coolest things were hand-crafted pop up cards, digeridoos (sp?), really nice smelling herbal teas and soaps, genuine leather handbags and journals, and lots of homemade fudge. AND they sold lamb kelbasas for dirt cheap (by Australian standards, $5), AND corn on a cob on a stick! best part of my day! Also, I ran into one of my teammates, Betsy, at the market. What a small world!!!!
After The Rocks we went to Paddy's, not to be confused with Paddington's. It's this humongo warehouse with all of this really cheap and touristy merchandise like hats, tee shirts, stuffed kangaroos and koalas, and shot glasses. A little overwhelming but a cool experience.
On the way to Paddington's (we traveled by ferry) was The Arrival, i.e. a five-story giant rubber duck coming into the harbor. It was HILARIOUS. I have no idea why it was there but it is apparently a huge annual event. It was larger than a lot of the boats in the harbor and even some of the buildings.
We ended up eating dinner in the apartments as a group because it was a lot cheaper. I felt fancy schmancy though, homemade pasta and sauce and red wine! After dinner we ventured out to a local bar for $4 Blue Tongues, a type of local beer.
Today's agenda...beach! I'll tune in later
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